Husband and Wife Reunion

CHAPTER THREE

BY THE TIME Luke reached his father, Abe had already taken out the new roll of barbed wire and was trying to fasten it to the fence by himself. “Couldn’t wait a few more minutes?” Luke dismounted and strode over.

“Can’t wait forever. I’m not getting any younger.”

“Not getting any easier to get along with either.”

“One of the few good things about getting old. You can say what you want and the hell with what anyone thinks.”

Luke couldn’t remember a time when his father didn’t say what he wanted or ever cared what anyone thought. But he wasn’t going to stay that long and he needed his father’s cooperation if he was going to hire someone to help out. Getting Abe to accept that help was going to be the tough part.

“We need to shore up the posts first,” Luke said and walked over to one that was tilted at forty-five degrees.

“It’ll straighten out with the wire on it,” Abe countered.

Luke let out an exasperated breath. He knew he should just agree with his dad and then get out of there. “C’mon, let’s do it together.”

That seemed to agree with Abe and they both started working on getting the post upright. And while they were somewhat sympatico, Luke said, “I know Jules isn’t here just because you asked her to come.”

His father turned and looked at him. “Is it such a hard thing to believe, that someone would actually want to be here with me?”

“No, Dad. Of course not. You have company all the time, don’t you.” No matter how hard he tried to be nice, his father made it impossible and Luke couldn’t seem to hold back his sarcasm. But then it wasn’t likely he’d hurt the old man’s feelings anyway. Nothing fazed his father. And he usually gave out more than he got.

“People never did take to me, like they did your mother,” Abe said. “And when she died, it was hard to be nice to anyone.”

Including me. But this time, Luke bit back the words. He’d come here to make amends with his father and dammit, he was going to. “I know you missed her. I did, too.”

“I still do.”

The softness in his dad’s voice might’ve made Luke think he actually meant it. “So why are you here?” Abe said. “I know you didn’t come to keep an old man company.”

Luke smiled, hoping to ease the tension. “But you’re wrong. That’s exactly why I came. I had two weeks vacation and I thought it a good opportunity for us to…to reconnect.”

Abe snorted, then as if he hadn’t heard a word, walked to the next post and started righting it.

Yeah. Luke sighed. Had he hoped for a different reaction? What Luke wanted didn’t mean squat when it came to his father. Never had. “So, getting back to Jules. I know she likes you and all that, but what’s the other reason she’s here?”

“Ask her, not me.”

“I did. She won’t tell me.”

“Shoot. If you’d kept in touch with her, you’d know why she was here.”

Keep in touch? Where had his father been all this time? Julianna didn’t want anything to do with him. It was her decision and he’d respected it.

“And if you hadn’t bailed on the marriage, she probably wouldn’t be here at all.”

Picking up the roll of wire, Luke gritted his teeth. Tension crackled in the air between them. Luke started attaching the end of the wire to the first post. “Dad, that was five years ago. Long enough for you to quit harping on something that’s over and done with.”

“She was the best thing that ever happened to you,” his father grumbled.

Yeah. He’d thought so, too. “Like Mom was the best thing that ever happened to you?” Sarcasm laced his words.

Slowly Abe turned, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Yes, like your mother.”

He’d hit a nerve. He’d spent a lifetime wanting to say that and trying not to. And now that he had, he didn’t feel any better. “Julianna may have been the best thing for me, but I wasn’t the best for her. I doubt she’d agree that there’d been anything good between us.”

Abe spat on the ground and grumbled, “People don’t always say what they mean, you know.”

Yeah, he knew. He saw it in his job all the time. People lied to save their butts. But Julianna wasn’t a liar. She’d meant every last hurtful word. Every time he thought about it… Hell, dealing with both Jules and his father, his head felt about to explode.

“Things happen,” Abe said. “Good stuff, crappy stuff. It’s called life. If love is there, it’s there. People go on.”

“Dammit. It’s a dead subject, Dad. Now why don’t you just tell me why she’s here and be done with it.”

Abe grabbed the roll of wire Luke held and yanked it away. “I told you. It’s not my place. Ask her yourself.”

Luke released his grip before the wire cut his hand. Then suddenly Abe spat out a string of cuss words. His face went ghost-white, his lips blue. He staggered back, grabbed his chest and sank to his knees.

Shit. Luke dropped the roll.

“IT’S OKAY, MARK. I’m finishing the story and that’s that. I’m in the safest place I could be, under the circumstances.”

“But you can’t stay there forever.”

She sighed. “I know. Once the story is done—”

“What makes you think this lowlife will stop bothering you when you’re finished?”

“That’s what his threats are about. He doesn’t want me to finish, so if I do, he’s lost.”

“I think you’re wrong. It could make him even more incensed that you didn’t listen.”

That was true. So far it had. “Look, Mark, I’m not going to live my life in fear because of some jackass. No one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do when it comes to my writing.” Her temper flared at the thought.

“Well, I can.”

She stifled a laugh. “Right.” Mark was such a cupcake. He’d given her free rein after only a month on the job. And she was careful not to abuse the confidence he had in her. “You’ll see. It’ll be business as usual after the last installment.”

“Damn, I hope you’re right. Because otherwise I’m going to feel responsible.”

“So, what else is new, Dad?” Mark wasn’t much older than her own thirty-two years, but he acted as if he was sixty sometimes.

He chuckled. Finally.

“I’ll be in touch.” As she hung up, Julianna heard something bang outside. She glanced at her watch. Luke and Abe had only left a half hour ago, it couldn’t be them.

Just as she went into the kitchen, Abe burst through the back door, Luke right behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing a little good sense won’t fix,” Luke said.

Abe waved him off with a hand covered with a blood-soaked cloth.

“Oh, you’re hurt!”

“Just a little cut. I’ve had worse. No big deal.”

“When did you last have a tetanus shot?” Luke asked.

Abe shrugged.

“That’s what I thought.”

“That’s enough, you two. What we need right now is a first-aid kit. Do you have one, Abe?”

“Under the sink in the bathroom,” he grumbled, then quickly added, “But I’m not going to get any shots.”

“Can you get it, Luke?” Julianna asked as she lifted Abe’s hand to see the damage. “What were you doing?”

“Nothin’ I don’t do all the time. I just got distracted.”

As Abe answered, Luke returned with the kit and handed it to Julianna. She went to work, cleaning the wound, a gash about two inches long. “You really should see a doctor. It might need stitches.”

No response.

“While you’re taking care of that, I’m going back out to finish what we started.” Luke motioned with a tip of his head that Julianna should follow him outside.

“Hold the pressure on it, and I’ll be right back, Abe.”

Outside on the porch, Luke stood with his feet apart, arms crossed over his chest. “He wasn’t distracted,” Luke said, keeping his voice low. “He looked unsteady on his feet, as if he was dizzy or something. Then he fell. But he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. Maybe while I’m gone you can find out. I think he needs to see a doctor…whether he wants to go or not.”

Julianna saw the concern in Luke’s eyes. For a tough cop, he felt things intensely, though it wasn’t always easy to tell.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Before she could go back inside, Luke placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re going to have to tell me why you’re here, because we both know it’s not just a visit. I don’t have any desire to pry into your personal life… I mean if it’s something like you’ve had a fight with your boyfriend or whatever, just say so and I’ll butt out. But if it’s something else and it involves my father, then I need to know.” He stared at her, determined. “Besides, you know I’ll find out one way or another.”

The skin on her arms prickled. “And what does that mean?”

He shrugged, but didn’t let her go. “I’m a detective.”

Annoyed, but knowing he meant what he said, she pulled away. “Okay…it’s personal, so butt out.” She stalked back inside. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It was personal…and if telling a tiny untruth meant he’d leave her alone, so be it.

After she finished cleaning Abe’s wound and bandaged it as best she could, she said, “So, how about that tetanus shot? I’ll be happy to drive you.”

“Nearest doc is in a little clinic outside Pecos.”

“Fine. Let’s go.” Before he could protest, she said, “Oh, one other thing.”

He glanced at her.

“I received a couple of voice-mail messages on my home phone. Threatening messages.”

“The bastard,” Abe spat out. “It’s a good thing you’re here then.”

“I was thinking of going somewhere else.”

“Nonsense.”

She sat on a chair next to him and clasped his good hand. “It’s not nonsense. If there’s any chance I’m in danger, then my being here puts you in danger, too.”

Abe squinted. “Why do you think you’d be any safer someplace else? No one’s going to find you here. And if they can’t find you, that keeps us both safe. Right?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I took precautions, but I can’t be sure it was enough. I couldn’t bear it if—”

He held up a hand. “I won’t hear of it,” he sputtered. “You leave, you’ll have the same problem. This is the best place and that’s the end of it.”

Julianna smiled, then gave Abe a long hug.

“So, let’s quit jawing and get that shot.”

“I’ll leave a note for Luke.”

She started to help Abe get up, but he protested.

“Tell him we’re going to the grocery store. He doesn’t need to know we went to the clinic.”

“I’ll write the note however you want it.” Luke would know where they’d gone. He was a smart guy. Someone who could unravel puzzles in a flash, who understood people at a glance. And he hadn’t believed for a second she was there on vacation. But what difference did it make to him why she was there?

If he’d just finish the fence, hire someone to help Abe and then go home, she’d be fine. But from the determined look she’d seen in his eyes, she had an awful feeling that wasn’t going to happen. Luke would hound her until he found out what he wanted to know.

THAT NIGHT during a very late dinner, Luke told Julianna and Abe about his progress with the fence. “But there’s still more to do,” he said.

Luke didn’t ask why Abe’s hand was bandaged differently and Abe didn’t offer that they’d gone to the clinic. Julianna talked about the weather, of all things, simply because she wanted to get through the meal without any further references to why she was there.

So far, so good, she thought as she brought dessert to the table, a pie that she’d picked up at the grocery store after Abe had his hand stitched and had grudgingly submitted to a tetanus shot.

“Good pie,” Luke said.

“Thanks to Sara Lee.”

“Pot roast was good, too.” Luke forked another piece of pie and brought it to his lips.

Her eyes fastened there, on his mouth, the little indentation in the middle of his top lip.

“I don’t remember you cooking much before.”

Maybe that was because he was never home at dinnertime. She and Mikey had eaten alone most nights. “I learned a thing or two when I had an exchange student living with me for a while. Actually the student was doing an internship at the magazine and somehow I ended up with her at my house.”

“You have a house?” Luke looked surprised.

“A loft condo. No upkeep, and someone else does all the fixing.”

He nodded. “Not a bad idea. At my place there’s always something going wrong.” His bluer-than-blue gaze caught hers. “But then, you know that.”

Her pulse quickened. Was he still living in his grandfather’s house? The house they’d shared?

“That’s why I didn’t want that place,” Abe grumbled. “Too much fixin’.”

Both she and Luke turned to Abe. Then Luke said, “And there isn’t here?”

“It’s different,” Abe said gruffly. “There’s memories here.”

Julianna sighed. There were memories—both here and at the house in Venice Beach. She couldn’t believe Luke was still living there.

“The ranch has memories of all kinds,” Luke said. “Some good, some not so good.”

Abe’s chair scraped on the tiles as he abruptly rose to his feet. “I need to feed the horses, and then it’s time for me to turn in.”

When Abe was gone, she carried some dishes to the sink. “The doctor gave your father a tetanus shot and put five stitches in the cut.” Luke was right behind her with the dessert plates. Close. She moved to the side to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

“Good.” Luke scraped off a plate and handed it to her.

“He said Abe should come in for a checkup.”

Luke gave a dry laugh. “I don’t have to guess what the old coot’s response to that was, do I?”

“Right. But I think someone really needs to make sure he goes. He hasn’t seemed like himself since I got here.”

Luke leaned on the counter, watching as she finished up. She felt sweaty all of a sudden, unnerved to have him so close. It seemed odd that they were talking about Abe as if they were still married.

“If you could work some of your magic to get him to agree, I’d be indebted,” he said.

The soft plea in his eyes touched her. She put the last cup into the dishwasher, added soap, pushed the button and started the machine. “I’ll see what I can do. But right now, I’ve got work to do.”

Luke’s gaze followed as Jules walked away. She’d seemed nervous—as if she couldn’t wait to get away from him. If he didn’t know better, he might think… But hell, she was probably worried that he was going to ask again why she was there. And truth was, if she hadn’t left, he would’ve.

Repeatedly asking the same question was one way to wear someone down. He did it with suspects all the time when he thought they weren’t being truthful. While Jules might not be lying, something was definitely wrong. She jumped out of her skin every time the phone rang.

Walking into the living room, he heard the kitchen door slap shut. His dad coming back inside. Abe had said he was going to bed, and though it seemed early for that, his father’d had a busy day what with the fence and the doctor and all. Luke felt tired, too, but he knew it was more mental exhaustion than physical.

As he reached the worn-out couch, its worst parts covered with a red-and-blue Southwestern serape blanket, he inhaled the familiar scent, a mixture of cigarettes, Old Spice and old man. He glanced around. Nothing had changed. Nothing in the house and nothing with Abe.

Though he’d come here with the idea of smoothing out his relationship with his dad, he could see now it was a bad idea. Abe was too set in his ways. More importantly, his dad didn’t care about mending anything between them. And now, in addition to finding hired help, he had to get Abe in for a physical.

He couldn’t leave until he had those two things under his belt. He hoped Jules would help. She was good at getting people to do things without them realizing it.

An image of Jules immediately popped into his head. An image of how she looked today, not the one he’d carried for the past five years. She looked more mature, more comfortable in her own skin, and she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. Just watching her had made his blood run hot…made him remember what it was like to feel something.

Something other than duty and responsibility.

And Jules was the last person he should be thinking about like that. He reached for a magazine. The Achilles’ Heel. What the hell. Reading might get his mind on something else. He flipped it open. The title of the article practically leaped off the page. “Missing.”

He read a couple paragraphs. Turned the page. What the—the story was about a little girl who’d been abducted fifteen years ago in Los Angeles. Renata Willis. He tossed the magazine on the pile and picked up another. Another story with the same theme, but a different child.

Anger rose from the dark well inside him, the place where he’d buried his feelings. How long had she been doing this? A sharp, heart-stabbing pain drove into his chest.

How could she!

CHAPTER FOUR

SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Luke had kept his distance all day, barely grunting when Julianna or his father asked a question. Would he like coffee? Grunt. Aren’t you going to have breakfast? At least that one had gotten a grumble that she thought was a “No thanks. Gotta get to work.”

He’d left immediately and, since he’d been gone all day, Julianna suspected he’d long since finished the fence. “He can’t still be working, can he?” she asked Abe as they finished up dinner. “It’s getting dark.”

“Luke can take care of himself.”

“I know he can, Abe. But for him to be gone so long, something could’ve happened. Aren’t you worried just a little? Curious maybe?”

“Nope. I learned a long time ago that Luke doesn’t need anyone to worry about him.” He glanced at her from under his brows. “And I think you seem more worried than necessary.”

Julianna stared at him in surprise. Abe never talked about anything personal. Never once had he mentioned the divorce. “I don’t know what you mean.”

As he smiled, the crevices in his face deepened and she saw a glint in his faded blue eyes. Eyes that reminded her vaguely of Luke’s. “You know what I mean.” He rose from the chair and then raised his hands in the air. “But then I’m an old man and you probably think I don’t know what it’s like to be in love.”

She did a double take. “I…I’m not…there’s nothing—”

“It’s okay. No need to explain.”

Sheesh! What did Abe think? That she’d been pining away for Luke for five years?

JUST AS LUKE WAS finishing up the fence, he heard a noise behind him and turned to see Stella Hancock astride a pinto that looked as old as she was.

“Hello, Luke.”

He tipped his Stetson. “Mrs. Hancock.”

“How are you? It’s been a long time.”

Luke drew a breath, then shifted his stance, feet apart, arms crossed. “I’m fine.” He didn’t ask how she was and instead said, “I’m surprised to see you out here. You ride out very often?”

She smiled and the fine wrinkles around her eyes fanned out. For a woman who’d spent most of her life on a ranch, she’d aged gracefully. Most ranch women were well weathered by the time they were forty.

“No, I came because I heard you were fixing the fence and I wanted to know how Abraham is doing?”

When he didn’t answer right away, she added, “I saw your wi—Julianna at the grocery store yesterday. She told me your father had hurt his hand.”

Luke looked away. Jules had met the Hancock woman once when they’d come to visit when they were first married, and she’d been impressed that Stella had run her own ranch after her husband passed away. Luke didn’t think it was a big deal, not when you had her money. She might run the place, but other people did the work.

Coughing, Luke grated out, “He had a couple stitches, that’s all.”

“The last time I saw him in town he didn’t look well.”

Annoyed that he was even talking to this woman about his father, this woman who’d— Luke stared at her, willing her to get the drift and go away. “I’ll take care of whatever is bothering my father.”

He saw her wince a little, but she quickly recovered, then said, “That’s good to hear. He needs someone right now.” Then she pulled on the reins, made a clicking sound and rode away.

What did she mean by that? And how did she know what his father did or didn’t need? As far as Luke knew, she and his father hadn’t had any contact for years. Maybe he was wrong?

Climbing onto Balboa again, he took a minute to survey the land, a vast span of nature at its best. Just east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the landscape was made up of rolling hills and piñon pine. Mountains and streams surrounded the valley and as a kid, Luke had always thought he lived in a magical place, a utopian paradise. What did he know?

His mother had loved it here and he remembered riding with her often, to picnic or fish or just to soak up the scenery. The land reminded Luke of her. Beautiful in its simplicity, yet strong enough to withstand the elements.

In the end, cancer had taken his mother at too young an age. But she’d seemed at peace with herself. Unlike him, her faith had held her in good stead. He’d gone the other way, damning whatever forces had taken her from him so soon. And then later, took Michael. And Julianna. If there was a God, he wasn’t doing his job.

No, he didn’t have the kind of faith his mother had. Why should he?

He touched Balboa’s side with his heel, but the stallion wasn’t in any hurry to return. The horse probably didn’t get enough exercise with only Abe to take care of things, so Luke took the long way back to give the stallion a workout and on the way, he stopped at a shallow creek to let Balboa drink. He dismounted. Except for the burbling sounds of crisp clean water over the smooth rocks, it was so quiet he could hear himself breathe.

Balboa suddenly rose up and whinnied. “What? What’s wrong, boy?” The horse snorted and jerked away, spooked. “It’s okay,” Luke soothed, stroking the animal’s neck and scanning the area to see what had scared him. “It’s okay, big guy.”

As he took in the property on the other side of the creek, on the hill he spotted an animal on the ground. Very still. “It’s okay,” Luke reassured his mount and stroked him again. He tethered the horse to a tree and made his way across the creek, rock by rock.

It was a calf. But what was it doing out here alone? Was it sick? A few more steps and he knew the animal was dead. He didn’t want to get too close, but he had to know what had happened. As he moved closer, he saw a pool of blood under the animal’s head. The calf’s throat had been cut.

On instinct, he reached for his weapon and swung around. Only he wasn’t carrying and felt like an idiot. He was standing in the middle of a pasture with a dead calf and he’d reacted like he’d been ambushed by the Mob.

Maybe the captain was right, his nerves were shot and he needed the vacation more than he realized. Even though he’d covered numerous crime scenes, the coppery odor of blood, the scent of death, made him cover his mouth with his hand. He never got used to that. People who thought police were immune to gruesome scenes were either misinformed or stupid.

He rode Balboa back to the ranch at a gallop and twenty minutes later, after unsaddling the stallion and brushing him down, he walked into the kitchen. It was quiet, so he headed down the hall and tapped on Abe’s door. “It’s Luke, Dad. I need to talk to you.” Without waiting for an answer Luke opened the door.

“What’s wrong?” Abe was sitting in his favorite chair. On the table next to him was a photo of Luke’s mother. The room reeked of stale tobacco, even though Julianna had persuaded Abe long ago to quit smoking in the house. She hadn’t wanted Michael exposed to secondhand smoke.

Luke pulled an old oak chair up next to his father’s and turned on the lamp. “Sitting in the dark for a reason?”

“You get the fence fixed?” his father asked.